Charges: Man Burglarized Home After Release From Jail

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 24-year-old man is accused of breaking into an Inver Grove Heights home while a family was inside just weeks after being released from jail, according to charges filed Friday in Dakota County Court.

Curtis Ray Kramer was charged with first-degree burglary of an occupied dwelling and theft of more than $5,000 in connection with the incident, which happened Monday.

According to the charges, police responded to an occupied residence in Inver Grove Heights at about 1:20 a.m. Monday on a report of a burglary in progress. The caller stated he and another person were sleeping in the home when they woke up to the sound of broken glass and footsteps inside the residence.

The window on the back door of the residence had been broken and the victims believed more than one person was in the house.

According to the complaint, when officers arrived they saw a suspect later identified as Kramer carrying a white shopping bag that was full of items as well as a laptop computer. Police told him to stop and show his hands, and he proceeded to drop the bag and computer and fled the residence on foot. Authorities caught him and took him into custody.

Police found that he had stolen a driver’s license, credit cards, a fishing license and jewelry. Authorities estimated he stole about $16,000 worth of items. All items but two rings in the victims jewelry collection were accounted for, the complaint states.

Kramer was uncooperative with police at the time of his arrest and didn’t provide a statement, but later blurted out that he had just finished serving more than six years in prison and didn’t care. If convicted on all charges, he faces up to 30 years in prison and $55,000 in fines.